Just wondering who else out there likes jazz and what they like.I have seen very, very few reggae artists live but I have seen:Max Roach, Steve Lacy (numerous times), Ornette Coleman, Steve Coleman, Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Jan Gabarek, Archie Shepp, Nana Vascocelos, George Lewis, Paul Motian, Mike Stern, Horace Parlan and numerous others.I would probably put Steve Lacy's sextet gigs at the top.

I love labels like ECM, Art Ensemble of Chicago are massive faces, classic BlueNote can't be beaten and of course pretty much anything by Coltrane and Miles. A Kind of Blue remains one of the most stunning pieces of music in any genre ever, period.

I don't care for Wynton Marsalis - sounds a bit sterile though obviously he is enormously gifted.

Anyway, any other jazz fans?

Mark TPS sorry if this falls into the 'Are we repeating ourselves' category.

Well Charge wrote:I've always admired jazz from a distance, never really got into it.I like off course the jazzy side of reggae: Cedric Brooks, Tommy McCook, studio one...

What would you recommend to a reggaeman to get into jazz?

Quite a few of the titles I recommended in my previous post are free jazz-oriented and might not be suitable to all first time listeners (although that was my main and initial interest in jazz). Some albums that might be a better introduction to the music if one does not like it too "free" and improvised:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue lp (possibly the best introduction to jazz and still one of the best jazz albums ever released. I know they released a reggae version of this a few years ago but havent checked for that as yet)John Coltrane - A Love Supreme lpLee Morgan - The Sidewinder lpBill Evans - Waltz For Debby lpCannonball Adderley - Something Else lp

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady:A mind blowing album of orchestral sounds

Phillip Coran & Artistic Heritage Ensemble - On the BeachA blend of jazz and 'universal' rhythms, Cohran studied music from all over the globe

Sun Ra - The Futuristic Sound OfOne of the most accessible albums from the controversial cult figure. He was the one who inspired Cedric Brooks to start improvised sessions that eventually led to The Light Of Saba.

Great recommendations already that you can't really go wrong with. John Coltrane's 'Blue Train' and 'Soul Trane" are beautiful albums. You have to go on a bit of a journey with Trane, if you jump in with the later stuff you may recoil in horror.Mingus Ah Um! is great as well. I think I've said it before but Blue Note + Rudy Van Gelder (sound engineer) + pretty much any artist is usually good.Some fabulous music when you need a change from that repetitive reggae that all sounds the same.. Mark T

I agree with most of the suggestions already made above, specifically Miles and Herbie. I also share Mark's soft spot for labels as ECM, Verve and Blue NoteIn addition to those I'm very fond of most Soft Machine albums (at least until their 6th), Belgium's own Placebo (not the rockband but the jazzcombo feat. Marc Moulin!).Frank Zappa's 'The Grand Wazoo' finally does deserve a spot in this list too imo

I saw a guy play trombone one time in a trio and he made it interesting by using some sort of reverb/loop thingy (i'm no musician or techy) - but basically he could play a phrase then hit a pedal with his foot and the phrase would repeat as if on a loop then he could play other stuff over the top - it was pretty decent.Absolutely no idea who it was though now I type the name Sean/Shawn sticks in mind.

Bitches Brew is good - I have the complete sessions version which has different takes and oddities. I also like Terge Rypdal who did a beautiful trio with Jack DeJohnette (incredible drummer) that has reverby type soundscape improvisations - on ECM as so much good stuff is. I bet you can't find a label in the world that recorded music better than ECM it is amazing.Mark T